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Off The Record: A beach in Mayfair, a prince in Ireland and a feast of fashion’s future

1 June 2016By Drapers Reporters

A Browns beach in Mayfair: London indie Browns turn its South Molton Street home into a beachy haven last week, complete with beach huts, inflatable pool toys and free frozen drinks to celebrate the launch of Browns Beach, its pop up summer space in store. Brands Mira Mikati, House of Holland, Tata Naka, Stella Jean and No21 customised the fun beach huts that will adorn the store’s shop front for the next few weeks. Now all London needs is some sunshine.

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A Browns beach in Mayfair: London indie Browns turn its South Molton Street home into a beachy haven last week, complete with beach huts, inflatable pool toys and free frozen drinks to celebrate the launch of Browns Beach, its pop up summer space in store. Brands Mira Mikati, House of Holland, Tata Naka, Stella Jean and No21 customised the fun beach huts that will adorn the store’s shop front for the next few weeks. Now all London needs is some sunshine.

The royal seal of approval: The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visited Irish brand Magee 1866 in Donegal last week as part of a three-day visit to Northern Ireland and Ireland. Magee, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, specialises in designing and weaving luxury natural fabrics, including wool – a favourite of the prince, who is patron for the Campaign for Wool.

Championing UK manufacturing: Meet the Manufacturer teamed up with the British Fashion Council for an evening of networking and debate to bridge the gap between designers and manufacturers. Pictured from left to right: Simon Colbeck, Marks & Spencer; Tony O’Connor; Kate Hills, Make It British; Caroline Rush, BFC; and Guy Hills, Dashing Tweeds

A future fashion feast with Winchester School of Arts: Graduate fashion season got under way last week as Winchester School of Arts hosted its Future Feast fashion show at the Vinyl Factory in central London to showcase the top talent from its Fashion Marketing and Fashion and Textile Design programmes. The night culminated in a catwalk awards ceremony and womenswear designer Michael Van Der Ham presenting Jasmine Broughton with the Fashion Textiles Award and Christine Xu with the Fashion Direction Award.

Breaking news: Students from the BA (Hons) Fashion Communication course at Central Saint Martins were tasked with creating a digital marketing strategy for Seven Dials, an area of central London’s Covent Garden, to highlight its mix of quirky fashion, footwear and beauty boutiques, restaurants and theatres. The winning group’s 7DialsNews concept – a series of breaking news broadcasts from Seven Dials – was the most innovative and clearly set out how the strategy would work across social media channels, including Snapchat and Periscope. Those in control of advertising budgets take note!

Football legend Sir Geoff Hurst made a trip to London’s Carnaby Street to celebrate the 50 anniversary of England’s 1966 World Cup win. Hurst, who remains the only person to have scored a hattrick in World Cup final, visited football concept store Pro-Direct to see its limited edition Bobby Moore box set and 1999 jerseys emblazoned with his winning number 10.

Jingle Bells: Christmas really is starting earlier this year after Selfridges unveiled its Christmas shop at its Oxford Street store. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the department store became the first in the world to launch its “Shine On” Christmas offer when it put 50,000 baubles on display last week in a bid to attract super organised shoppers.

Easy dressing: Marks & Spencer has teamed up with leading charity the National Autistic Society to launch the “Easy Dressing” collection, a range of schoolwear designed for children with autism. During a recent product development campaign, the high street retailer said it had been inundated with customers calling for more products for people who struggle with clothing, especially children on the autistic spectrum. Over 6,000 people have already signed up to hear more about the collection, which has eliminated fiddly fastenings and scratchy fabrics and is available from the start of this month.

Need for speed: Belstaff and Triumph Motorcycles will travel to the salt flats of Bonneville, USA, in an attempt to break the motorcycle world land speed record. Speed freak and multiple world record holder Guy Martin will ride a custom built Triumph Infor Rocket in his bid to break the existing record of 376.363 mph. To mark the occasion, Belstaff is launching a limited edition motorcycle jacket called the Streamliner 400.

First husband of style : As the US presidential race rumbles on, American clothing company Betabrand has launched an online design contest asking aspiring designers to create a series of outfits for potential first husband Bill Clinton. Says founder Chris Lindland: “America’s first Gentleman could spawn a renaissance in male fashion so we’re staging a contest to prepare for this possibility. While Americans may disagree on who should lead our country, there’s nothing that unites the nation like a sharply dressed spouse.”

Partnering up: Casualwear brand Bench has partnered with dance band Rudimental on the brand’s ongoing #LoveMyHood campaign, which encourages home-grown artists to talk about their style roots and how they made it big. Bench CEO and chairman Bruno Sälzer described the campaign as the “perfect union between music and fashion.”

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